City of Saskatoon Local Area Planning (LAP)
Montgomery Place – Neighbourhood Safety Action Plan
LAP Meeting 10 – 19 April 2016
Montgomery Place residents attended the LAP meeting on Neighbourhood Safety on April 19, 2016 at Montgomery School.
Welcome
Facilitator Nancy Lackie welcomed residents and introduced Elisabeth Miller, Senior Planner, Neighbourhood Safety, City of Saskatoon.
The items presented included:
- Survey results from last meeting
- Crime statistics review
- Action Plan
Survey Results
Feedback from Montgomery Place residents at the last meeting (April 9, 2016) indicated that the areas of concern were – Montgomery Park, the corner at Gregg’s Grocery, St. Dominic School/ Gougeon Park, Walker Park, Simmonds Park, construction sites, Burma Road and Dundonald Avenue.
The survey showed that 28% of Montgomery Place residents feel very safe in the community, 73% felt somewhat safe and 78% feel that crime has remained the same or increased somewhat.
Also presented from survey – 28% of crime is perceived as vandalism, 28% as property theft, 11% as break & enter, and 16% were unsure.
Crime Statistics
A review of crime statistics for our community indicated crimes against property were the highest, especially theft from a vehicle and mischief under $5000. There was an increase from 2013 to 2014 of 1, and from 2014 to 2015 there was no increase.
The neighbourhood averaged total of 116 incidents in a year which would be approximately 10 per month. A resident indicated that crimes reported in the community newsletter were higher. It was explained that the statistics are obtained from police website but what is reported also includes traffic offences in the area including 11th Street bypass.
MPCA President Barb Biddle pointed out that the police method of reporting crime stats also shows one incident more than once on that date if it involves more than one offence as they track each type of offence separately.
A resident commented that the statistics do not give a good picture of how much crime there is. The presenter agreed that the statistics would only reflect crimes that were reported. A resident asked – what can we do to get information on actual crimes if they are under-reported? It was suggested we could gather more information by doing a victim’s survey in the community. This could highlight how crime differs from the crime stats.
It was indicated that theft from vehicles has increased but it was thought that many never reported as items of little value were taken.
Action Plan
Before a safety audit and report are determined, a workshop will be offered to all residents on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) so everyone knows the principles. It was suggested that resident volunteers conduct surveys of neighbours around the parks to determine issues such as where it is, and isn’t, safe. For this exercise, a script is provided for the volunteers.
Part of the Action Plan requires doing a safety audit in the park areas. The question was asked – how many would be willing to participate in the safety audit – several people indicated they would.
There was general discussion of rentals. One Montgomery Place resident commented about the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design as applied in Edmonton where landlords of multi-units have rental contracts which indicate crime is not tolerated and if a tenant is involved in crime, they are ejected. Could we incorporate these principles here and could it include other than multi-units as we have a number of duplexes?
Another comment was – would the city be willing to spend the money to make it safe in the neighbourhood – for example, lighting in the parks. The response was that recommendations would be made concerning safety and it ultimately goes to Council – some projects take somewhat longer depending on city budgets.
Another resident expressed concern that if residents were not at meeting, people won’t know what is going on. It was indicated we do summaries of the LAP meetings on our website – montgomeryplace.ca.
Wrap Up
The meeting ended with Melissa Austin indicating this would be the last topic meeting. She asked if there were topics that were missed. It was suggested that we didn’t address landscaping issues; she indicated we could address this but we wouldn’t need a separate meeting for this. There is going to be a public open house where each topic is presented and review of what people want to ensure they have the correct information. Also another neighbourhood survey would be circulated.